Who Is He and What Is He to You?
by Mad-like
Summary: The big breakup, at least I hope they're breaking up, from another point of view.
1. Chapter 1

**Here's where I see that whole Mercedes/Shane/Sam triangle going down if Mercedes doesn't just tell Shane what's going on. I want Shane gone but Sam did just breeze into town and try to steal his woman.  
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><p><em>A man we passed just tried to stare me down<em>  
><em>And when I looked at you<em>  
><em>You looked at the ground<em>  
><em>I don't know who he is<em>  
><em>But I think that you do<em>  
><em>Dadgummit<em>  
><em>Who is he, and what is he to you?<em>

He knew it would end like this. Actually not really. The first time he saw her he didn't know it would even get started. It was a new town, a new church, and he was sitting there with his mother and younger sister Avery. She was bored and so was he. Then the choir started singing and she stepped forward for a solo. She was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen and her voice was that of an angel. He looked at his mother and sister. They were both staring at the girl and smiling. He was going to like it here. Afterwards, he made a point of thanking her for singing. She smiled and acted like she'd never heard that before and thanked him for saying it.

The next time he saw her was Tuesday. The church had a food drive and the pastor asked him to help, he's such a big guy. She was there, organizing things. He didn't get a chance to talk to her but he did find out her name. Sadie.

He went to choir practice on Thursday. He's no singer, and it was pretty obvious quickly enough. The good thing was he got a chance to talk to her.

"You're new to Lima, aren't you? Mercedes. Mercedes Jones." she said holding out her hand.

"Shane. Shane Tinsley." he said. "I thought your name was Sadie."

"Sadie?" She had a musical laugh. "Sometimes people call me 'Cedes but my name is Mercedes."

"Oh. Mercedes. That's a pretty name. You're at church all the time, doesn't your boyfriend mind?"

"I don't have a boyfriend. I mean I had a boyfriend, kind of, but I don't have one right now."

Shane wondered what a 'kind of' boyfriend was but let that go, he was just glad that she didn't have a current boyfriend.

"Well, in that case, would you like to go where ever kids go here and do whatever they do here?"

"The Lima Bean." she laughed again. "They go there and drink coffee."

_Something in my heart and in your eye_  
><em>Tells me he's not someone just passing by<em>  
><em>And when you cleared your throat<em>  
><em>Was that your cue?<em>  
><em>Dadgummit<em>  
><em>Who is he, and what is he to you?<em>

Her friends were a problem, they didn't like him and he didn't like them. Well, they would have been a problem if they were good friends. They weren't. Shane tried to be sensitive to her friends, tried not to monopolize her time but fortunately for him she had lots of free time. From his job at Footlocker in the mall, he saw her friends more than she did. He'd see them there, shopping, hanging out, forgetting to invite her along. Of course he didn't say anything but he could tell she was sad when they went shopping with Avery for school clothes and saw her friends hanging out. And when she didn't like the way her friends treated her they said it was all his fault. He could live with that.

Of course he knew about Sam, she told him everything. She even explained what a 'kind of' boyfriend was. He felt bad for her, thinking she only deserved a 'kind of' boyfriend. He made sure she felt like a real girlfriend, that she knew he was proud be be with her and didn't care who saw them together. He wanted her to feel special.

And Sam was gone, history, never to be seen again. Until that day in the cafeteria. They were standing there, discussing their upcoming date on Friday night, when she saw him. She could have been looking at ghost, the way the color drained from her cheeks, the way she dropped the tray she was holding. Shane turned and saw Sam standing in the doorway. Then he looked at Mercedes and saw his world crumbling.

Maybe he was overreacting. Maybe she still meant what she said. Maybe he was hallucinating when he saw them kissing in the auditorium. No, Shane wasn't prone to hallucinations.

_When I add the sum of you and me_  
><em>I get confused when I keep coming up with three<em>  
><em>You're too much for one man<em>  
><em>But not enough for two<em>  
><em>Dadgummit<em>  
><em>Who is he and what is he to you?<em>

"So, anything interesting happen today?" he asked her later between classes.

"Nope." she looked down at the ground. "Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Nothing special."

"Okay. Are we still on for tonight?"

"Tonight? I'm sorry, we have a special practice tonight."

He knew she was lying, the way she wouldn't make eye contact. How far is she willing to take this? "You do? That's okay, I'll wait for you. The gym's open tonight, I can work out while I wait."

"Oh." she thought for a few minutes. "Except, the practice isn't here. It's at Rachel's house. You remember that party we went to there?"

"Then you'll need a ride." He offered helpfully.

"No, Santana's giving me a ride."

"Oh, well then I'll see you tomorrow." He kissed her, knowing it was for the last time. She barely kissed him back.

Shane set out immediately to find Rachel Berry.

"Hey Rachel."

"Shane." The short brunette was surprised to find him talking to her. "How are you?"

"Fine, just fine. Listen, Mercedes asked me to drop her off at your house for practice tonight but she couldn't remember what time."

"My house? Tonight at my house?" She was confused, exactly what Shane expected.

"That's what she said."

"Oh yes!" she thought quickly. "My house for practice. I don't know, tonight at eight?"

"Hey Shane." Kurt said walking up. "It can't be tonight at eight, we're going to visit Blaine, remember?"

"Yes but..." Rachel tried to stop him.

"So there is no practice at Rachel's tonight?" Shane intercepted.

"No." Kurt said firmly.

"Thanks."

_You tell me men don't have much intuition_  
><em>Is that what you really think girl<em>  
><em>Or are you merely wishing?<em>  
><em>Before you wreck your old home<em>  
><em>And search another new<em>

They were standing at her locker, looking at each other and laughing, when he saw them. Lost in their own little world, neither one of them saw Shane until it was too late.

"Is this what you'll be practicing tonight?"

"Shane, I can explain!" she said frantically.

"I don't care." and before he could respond, Sam found himself sitting on the floor, feeling a trickle of blood on his lip.

"You can't do that to my friend!" she said, kneeling on the floor and using her scarf to wipe the blood from his lip.

"Your friend?" he sneered. He knelt down next to them, so that only Sam and Mercedes could hear. "Would that be the friend that didn't want to be seen in public with you, who left town like a thief in the night, who couldn't be bothered to pick up a phone or drop a postcard in the mail, who came to town when Hudson called him specifically to make you lose at sectionals? Or are you talking about the friend who called an all-girl but Mercedes meeting? Or are you talking about the friend you took into your home and who stopped speaking to you the minute she didn't need you anymore? Or the friend who didn't think you're pretty enough to be Maria. You see, unlike your 'friends' I don't yell people's business down the hallway. And unlike you, I don't intend to surround myself with people I can't trust." He took a deep breath. "I could have broken his jaw if I wanted to, consider it a final gift from me to you." He stood up. "I was nothing but good to you, Mercedes, remember that."

"What are you guys fighting about?" Coach Bieste was suddenly standing there.

"Nothing." Shane said. "I'm not fighting over anything." He looked at Mercedes, sitting on the floor crying. "I'll tell Avery you're terribly sorry to miss her recital tonight." He slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked away.

_Dadgummit_  
><em>Who is he, and what is he to you?<em>

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><p>Who is he, and what is he to you? - Bill Withers<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Mercedes walked into the library and looked at her ex-boyfriend, the public boyfriend, sitting on the sofa. He was draped across the sofa, in defiance of the posted rules, daring the librarian to say something about it. She didn't. There was a stack of Sports Illustrated magazines by his hand. He was just laying there, flipping through them and tossing them aside.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Sam asked, letting go of her hand at the doorway.

"No, it'll be okay. He's not crazy." She walked over to Shane.

"Hey, Shane."

He looked up briefly and returned to his magazine. "Hey."

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure." He sat up and cleared a path through the magazines on the floor. Then he waited for her to sit down and start.

"I want to apologize. For what I did to you. I didn't want anybody to get hurt."

"How'd that work out?"

She looked down at her hands. "I said I'm sorry."

"Well, to tell you the truth I understand how it happened. I mean, you yourself said you were looking for a guy completely different than Sam. And I was looking for someone different from Lisa. Hell, if Lisa walked in that door right now I would have probably felt the same way you did when you saw him. 'Cept I wouldn't have lied about it."

"I guess I deserve that."

"Yes, you do. What you don't deserve is the shit I said to you yesterday. You're a big girl, you can pick your own friends. I just wanted to hurt you. That was unnecessary, what I said. I'm sorry for doing that." He started picking up the magazines he'd thrown on the floor.

"Anyway, something good came out of it. Lisa and I had the same clean break policy you had with Sam. Seeing what a ridiculous idea that turned out to be I sent her a text congratulating her on leading the girls basketball team done home to a statewide title. We ended up talking for hours. She got a scholarship to Ohio state. We're meeting down there this weekend, to check out the athletic facilities and stuff." He smiled thinking about seeing Lisa again. "So," he said standing up. "goodbye Mercedes. I'm not interested in being friends so it's just good bye."

"So how did it go?" Sam asked, sitting down in the seat Shane just vacated.

"Not as bad as it could have." she answered.

"And you picked me?" he asked eagerly.

"Of course I picked you."

"That's a relief. Listen, I thought about what Shane said and it wasn't all BS."

"I hurt Shane. I didn't mean to but I really hurt him. And he was trying to hurt me, that's why he said those things."

"Well, I don't know whose idea it was or why we thought it was a good idea, but no more secret relationship. I'm yours, you're mine and the rest of the world's going to have to deal with it. Okay?"

"Okay." She smiled at him and took his hand.

"Second, I'm really sorry about sectionals. I should have thought about how important that was to you. How it was more important to you than it was to me. I was just so excited to be back that I got caught up in the competition. Did that really bother you?"

"Kind of." she admitted.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I don't know. I guess..."

"You guess what?"

"I don't know, I didn't want to cause problems. You were here, you'd made up your mind. What right did I have to say no, you can't do what you wanted to do."

"What right did I have to ask you to leave Shane? He was a good enough boyfriend, he was your only friend for a while. But it was what I wanted, what I thought you really wanted. I thought we agreed on that, that you just wanted to let Shane down easy. Didn't you want to leave Shane?"

"Yes, I want to be with you."

"But..."

"I feel bad about the whole situation. It's better with everything out in the open now."

"Okay, anything else we need to discuss?"

"No. If I think of anything I promise you'll be the first to know."

"Okay, there's something I want to discuss with you." He reached into his backpack and pulled out a paper rose and tucked it behind her ear. "It's a flower that never dies for a love that never dies. Mercedes Jones, I love you. Forever."

**The End**


End file.
